Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Yiddish-Belarusian dictionary published

The first new Yiddish-Belarusian language dictionary in the last 76 years was published in Belarus.

The dictionary, researched and written by Yiddish expert Alexander Astrauh, was published using private donations.

The book contains 50,000 words. Quotes from literature of both cultures, songs, illustrations and jokes are also included. Only 1,000 volumes have been published.

Work on the dictionary took 10 years. While working on the project, Astrauh studied dictionaries that were published in different countries in the 20th and 21st centuries, according to the Belapan News Agency.

It is the second Yiddish-Belarusian dictionary in the country's history. The first, which included 8,000 words, was published in 1932.

A collection containing 100,000 Yiddish words created by the Jewish sector of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences between 1920 and 1930 was destroyed during World War II. (JTA)